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>36.3. Tests and Comparisons: Alternatives</H1
><P
>For tests, the <A
HREF="testconstructs.html#DBLBRACKETS"
>[[    ]]</A
>
	  construct may be more appropriate than <TT
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>[
	  ]</B
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>. Likewise, <A
HREF="comparison-ops.html#ICOMPARISON1"
>arithmetic
	  comparisons</A
> might benefit from the <A
HREF="dblparens.html"
>((    ))</A
> construct.

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>a=8

# All of the comparisons below are equivalent.
test "$a" -lt 16 &#38;&#38; echo "yes, $a &#60; 16"         # "and list"
/bin/test "$a" -lt 16 &#38;&#38; echo "yes, $a &#60; 16" 
[ "$a" -lt 16 ] &#38;&#38; echo "yes, $a &#60; 16" 
[[ $a -lt 16 ]] &#38;&#38; echo "yes, $a &#60; 16"          # Quoting variables within
(( a &#60; 16 )) &#38;&#38; echo "yes, $a &#60; 16"             # [[ ]] and (( )) not necessary.

city="New York"
# Again, all of the comparisons below are equivalent.
test "$city" \&#60; Paris &#38;&#38; echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city"
                                  # Greater ASCII order.
/bin/test "$city" \&#60; Paris &#38;&#38; echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city" 
[ "$city" \&#60; Paris ] &#38;&#38; echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city" 
[[ $city &#60; Paris ]] &#38;&#38; echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city"
                                  # Need not quote $city.

# Thank you, S.C.</PRE
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